Staff Architect

At American Express, our culture is built on a 175-year history of innovation, shared values and Leadership Behaviors, and an unwavering commitment to back our customers, communities, and colleagues. As part of Team Amex, you'll experience this powerful backing with comprehensive support for your holistic well-being and many opportunities to learn new skills, develop as a leader, and grow your career.

Here, your voice and ideas matter, your work makes an impact, and together, you will help us define the future of American Express.

**About Enterprise Architecture**:
Enterprise Architecture is an organization within the Chief Technology Office at American Express and it is a key enabler of the company’s technology strategy. The four pillars of Enterprise Architecture include:
1. **Architecture as Code**: this pillar owns and operates foundational technologies that are leveraged by engineering teams across the enterprise.

2. **Architecture as Design**: this pillar includes the solution and technical design for transformation programs and business critical projects which need architectural guidance and support.

3. **Governance**: this pillar is responsible for defining technical standards, and developing innovative tools that automate controls to ensure compliance.

4. **Colleague Enablement**:this pillar is focused on colleague development, recognition, training, and enterprise outreach.

**Responsibilities**:

- Lead the end-to-end architecture for digital banking platform including Mobile, Web, API gateways customer onboarding and self-service platforms.
- Collaborate with product, engineering, infrastructure, and security teams to align digital solutions with business and technology Strategy.
- Own architecture decisions for integration with core banking systems (e.g., Temenos, Finacle, FIS, Fiserv, Jack Henry, etc.).
- Design scalable, secure, and cloud-native architectures leveraging modern technologies (e.g. microservices, containers, event-driven systems)
- Ensure compliance with regulatory, data privacy and security standards in all digital banking initiatives.
- Provide architectural oversight for integration with real time and batch payment networks and protocols including
- Domestic in (ACH, Fedwire, RTP, UPI, SEPA, Faster Payments, Open Banking APIs)
- Cross border (SWIFT, ISO 20022, Correspondent Banking)
- Drive innovation by staying ahead of digital banking trends, fintech collaboration models, and emerging technologies (e.g., AI/ML in customer experience)
- Mentor and lead a team of solution and domain architects, promoting architectural best practices across the organization.

**Minimum Qualifications**:

- Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Computer Science Engineering, or related field required; Advanced Degree preferred.
- 12 years of experience in software or solution architecture with at least 8 years in financial services
- 5 + years of direct experience leading architecture for digital banking platforms at a large bank or fintech
- Proven experience with core banking systems and their integration patterns.
- Hands on experience designing solutions for both retail and commercial banking products.
- Strong expertise in global payment protocols, standards, and regulatory requirements
- Proficient in cloud technologies (AWS, GCP), APIs (REST / GraphQL) and modern development frameworks.
- Exceptional communication, leadership, and stakeholder management skills.

**Preferred Qualifications**:

- Experience working in a regulated financial institution with a global footprint.
- Familiarity with the authentication standards (OAuth2, OpenID Connect), digital identity, and customer consent frameworks.
- Knowledge of enterprise integration platforms ( MuleSoft, Kafka, Apigee )
- Certification in architecture frameworks (e.g. TOGAF, Zachman) or cloud architecture (AWS Solution Architect, Coogle Certified Professional Cloud Architect).
- Domain Expertise in Banking technology, Core Banking, ACH Payments, Debit card networks, Banking Compliance, OpenBanking APIs and Familiarity with Core Banking products and service providers like FIS and FiServe.

American Express is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, disability status, age, or any other status protected by law.